Not Everything Is As It Seems
by Trunkssan766
Summary: Excluding the rebirth, life was as it should've been. It was all so simple: don't change canon. But sometimes even simplicity comes with its own set of complications. {SI/OC} {rated T for some mature themes}
1. Chapter 1

**My attempt at a self insert fic. Be generous with me, will you?**

* * *

[To Start Anew]

* * *

"Hey, wake up."

I ignored the cute little voice next to me.

"Don't make me do that." she threatened. I scowled as I tried to sleep. I hated it whenever she did that.

I heard a huff. "Fine." Immediately, I felt a hand rub all over my face, as if just to bother me. Well, it worked. It always does.

Scowling, I smacked her puny hand away. Little brat.

"I'm up, you pest." I said as I sat up, rubbing my tired eyes with my hands. I moved towards the edge of my bed where I cracked my back, letting out a satisfied sigh, before standing up and stretching.

"Daddy says to hurry up and change, so we can help…her move in with things." I combed by hand through my dark curly locks. So that's what this is about, huh? It's about to be that point in the story. Even with my back faced towards her, I could imagine her cute little face all scrunched up in this adorable little scowl. Odd to see that on a five year old. Then again, I wasn't one to talk…

"Annabeth, you know it's not that bad, right?" I told her, facing my twin. She looked almost exactly like me, except that her eyes were a brighter shade of grey than my own, and was a blonde. She wore her most common entire, a red hoodie over a gray t-shirt, jeans and some old sneakers. I once told her that it wasn't very girl-like to wear the same outfit so often. She smacked the back of my head. An attitude since day one, with this one.

"How is it not?! You've met her like…a million times! She hates us! And, and, she's so rude!" Annabeth had the biggest look of disbelief and exasperation I had ever seen on her before. I thought it was amusing.

"Oh come on Annie, grow up. She's kinda nice, aren't you happy we'll finally have a mommy?" I said in fake innocent joy/curiosity. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like I wasn't happy for our father, who was getting married in a couple of months. Besides that, Helen was actually a really nice and pretty woman. I could see her being a great wife and soon-to-be-mother. It's just that I needed to act the part of a small child who's never had a mother before, which is technically wrong, but my current family doesn't need to know that.

Annabeth folded her arms, still looking upset. "You guys never listen to me…" I frowned as I picked out some clothes for the day.

"Don't say that. We're twins, remember? We'll always have each other's backs." Annabeth nodded, looking visibly less upset.

"Let's behave, for Dad, okay?" Annabeth sighed dejectedly.

"Okay." I smiled, and poked her forehead with my middle and index finger. Annabeth smacked my hand away.

"I told you to stop doing that!" I shrugged, and stuck out my tongue like the child I was. She muttered under her breath about how boys were stupid, before leaving our room. I snorted. Little brat. I always knew deep down she was probably a conceited little thing when she was young. I was totally right.

I exited our bedroom not a moment later, heading towards the bathroom. I quickly undressed and turned on the nozzle. Though I accidentally turned it the left, making it cold, and I was rather sensitive to the cold. Tensing, I quickly turned it the other way, sighing as I bathed in warm water. Here's a funny little thing about me: I usually just stand in the water for like 5 minutes because I just like the feeling of warm water on my body. Sounds weird, but that's just me.

I heard a knock on the door. I cracked an eye open.

"Bird Brain! Hurry up! Or else Daddy says you're not getting breakfast!" My eye twitched. Grumbling, I quickly washed my hair and my body before shutting off the water. Drying myself and getting into a simple outfit (white t-shirt, jeans), I ran downstairs, hungry as hell.

"Morning Dad." I said, casually walking up to my father, who was holding a box labeled "clothes". He wore some leather sandals, khaki shorts, and a white v-neck. He wasn't wearing his reading glasses for once, which was odd.

"Oh, Athan. You're up, that's great. Breakfast is on the table, and after your done go help your sister with Helen's things." I shrugged. I sat at the table, and looked at my breakfast. Sausage and eggs, sunny side up, just how I like them. I frowned as I saw that once again, my father had denied me the right to coffee. There's been an ongoing battle between my father and I since I turned three to allow me to drink coffee. Now, I know that caffeine and ADHD don't mix very well, I've experienced it before in my previous life. BUT…I love coffee. I never felt right in the morning without a cup of good ol'Joe. Now? Just have to suck it up. Bullshit, but I manage.

Speaking of ADHD, I have it bad. I was lucky to have the maturity and patience of someone much older, or else I'd be wreaking havoc everywhere I go. Annabeth was often jealous how I never had to struggle with reading, but she just didn't know the constant feeling of restlessness to the extent I did. It was tiring to keep that all under control, so I tried to get rid of all that pent up energy through exercise. It wasn't enough, so I was put into a martial arts program. Still not the best outlets, but it was good enough.

…I'm getting off topic, aren't I? Sigh, the downfalls of having divine heritage. Moving forward, I hurried up and ate my breakfast ('cause I'm a glutton), drank my juice (REALLY getting sick of your shit, dad…) and went outside to help with the rest of Helen's stuff. I passed by Annabeth, who was carrying a seemingly heavy vase as she entered the house again. I walked out onto our front porch, and walked up to the woman who would soon marry my father.

"Hi Helen!" I said, putting on my childish facade. The woman turned away from the back of her car and smiled at me. She bent down and gave me a hug, something I relished in. I had to give Frederick some props, scoring a pretty asian woman was a feat worthy of praise.

"Oh, Athan! I'm so glad to see you honey!" I wasn't her kid yet, but she treated me like I was. It was probably because I treated her with a lot more respect than Annabeth did. I squirmed a bit, to let her know to stop hugging. She released me, and I stepped back a bit.

"So, here to help me with my things?" She held up a vase, which looked rather ugly in my opinion, but I didn't voice it.

"Yep." I grabbed a large box filled with china, and lifted it up.

"No, no, no, uh Athan, please put that down before you-" I cut her off.

"Nope, I got this!" I said, my voice slightly strained. They were never that heavy to begin with, not to mention that I was a demigod. When I entered and set the box down, I caught Annabeth staring at me.

"What?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Suck up." My eye twitched. Let it be known Athan Chase never went down easily, if just to annoy others. I spotted a ball, a red one, and threw it at Annabeth's head. It hit her forehead, and her shocked expression was just too much to bare. I laughed.

"Daddy! Athan threw a ball at me!" I stopped laughing. Damn snitch.

"She's lying!" I yelled.

"No you're lying!"

"No you!"

And so, was the life I had been reborn into. It was things like this that helped forget that everything would soon go to hell.

* * *

"I hate this dress." said Annabeth. She was giving the front seat of the car a strong glare, well more of a pout really.

My father sighed from the front of the car. "Annabeth, I told you, you look amazing. Athan, doesn't your sister look pretty tonight?" I shrugged, giving a grunt.

"Athan, what have I said about grunting?" I rolled my eyes at Helen. "I saw that young man." My eye twitched.

"You're not the boss of him!" My sister snapped, as if to stop her from being so overbearing. Really, Helen was nice and all, but she could be such a mother hen at times. Well, more so to me than Annabeth.

Helen calmly said, "Annabeth, do not take that tone with me." Annabeth was about to make a witty retort, but I held up my hand. I gave her this look that said, _don't do it, it's not worth the trouble_. Annabeth grumbled under her breath, but kept quiet. Technically speaking, Annabeth was the older sibling, if only because she was thought up a couple seconds before me (still a concept I can't quite wrap my head around), but she seemed to look up to me as if I was the older sibling. Which was both good and bad, as I didn't know how big of an impact my influence on her would have on canon.

Canon. What to do about that, hm?

It was something I kept thinking about from time to time. Should I change it? Hell, can I change it? The answer to that question lies in several factors, such as my willingness and the Fates.

"Kids, we're here." Snapping out of my thoughts, I unbuckled the belt from my booster seat, though I had to wait for Helen to actually carry me out the car, which was rather humiliating. Honestly, I couldn't wait for the day I grew back to my previous size, if not taller.

Helen finally took me out the car, but not before fumbling a bit with my current attire. She smiled me, picking at my nose a bit. "Such a cutie." she cooed. Scowling, I smacked her hand away, as I was not cute. I looked like a total dork in fact, what with my hair slicked back and flattened, and my 60's style overalls.

Helen pinched my cheek. "Don't scowl, or you'll get-"

"Wrinkles, yeah, yeah I know." she let go of my cheek, smiling and standing completely straight up, holding her pregnant stomach with one hand, and my hand in the other. We caught up with my father and sister at the front door, where they were waiting for us.

"Did you knock?" Helen asked my father. He nodded.

"Yeah, but I don't know why they haven't answered already-" that's when the door finally opened. The person to answer it, was a middle aged, asian woman, who I assumed was Helen's mother.

"Frederick, Helen, you're both here already!" she smiled and hugged them both, whilst commenting how much Helen seemed to "glow". I leaned towards Annabeth, whispering "What do you think? About her?"

Annabeth shrugged. "She seems okay I guess." I nodded. "Hopefully she isn't like her daughter." I rolled my eyes at that.

"Be nice, kid. Respect your elders, remember?" Annabeth glared at me.

"You're one to talk, because first of all," she paused as we entered the Nakamura residency. Japanese surname, but Helen was also Korean last I checked. "I'm older than you-"

"By seconds!" I hissed. Annabeth ignored me. "-so you're the kid here. AND, remember that time you yelled at that nice old man?" I could feel my face flush at that memory, but I tried to defend myself.

"Hey! He took the last box of Pizza Rolls!"

"What is with your Pizza Rolls obsession? They're not even that good!"

"How dare you!"

"Ahem, children." We both turned to blink like owls (unintended pun) at our father. Frederick looked embarrassed, and the female Nakamuras looked pleasantly amused. It had just occurred to me that Annabeth and I may have been having our conversation out loud. I took a quick glance at Annabeth to see her face was as hot as mine. As one the oldest ones in the group, I quickly diffused the awkward tension.

"...Is that a sword?" I asked, pointing to a chokuto in the background. Lame, but it worked.

Mrs. Nakamura's eyes brightened up a bit. "Ah yes. This right here, is a proud family heirloom. It originally belonged to my ancestor…" and so on. I didn't care for the rest. As she talked, my twin nudged me.

"Nice save." she said, giving me one of those rare smirks. I smirked back.

"Looks like mother blessed me with her brains." I said, tapping my head. She snorted, shoving me lightly. "Dork."

"Takes one to know one."

After some more pleasantries, dinner, gift opening at midnight, my family had decided we weren't going home, as we could just sleep over at the Nakamura's. Me and Annabeth shared a room, which was totally fine by us. The only thing that wasn't fine by us was that we had to share a bed. A twin bed.

"Athan, move over." Annabeth whispered shouted. Damn brat.

"I can't, you're already taking up all the space." I was on the literal fucking edge of the bed. "Maybe you should move over, and stop hogging the blanket!"

"I'm not hogging it!"

"Yes you are! I'm freezing!"

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep because of that. It might've also been because of another disadvantage that came along with being a demigod child of Athena.

"What the hell?" I muttered. I thought I saw something move, though it could've just been my shadow. Well apparently not, 'cause when have demigods ever been that lucky?

What I saw continued to move, move towards me as I sat up. "The fuck?" Looking closer, I saw it was definitely not a shadow, rather an entire army of fucking spiders.

 _Well shit, I forgot about this_.

I gave a surprise yelp, standing on top of the bed, over Annabeth, hoping they wouldn't come after me, despite knowing that's what they were here for. I even caused Annabeth to stir. "Athan…what are you…." she trailed off as she too saw an entire room's worth of spiders crawl towards us. Unlike me, Annabeth completely panicked, and gave an ear shattering scream. I covered her with the blanket, grabbed one of my shoes, and started whacking them off us. It wasn't very effective.

I growled "Get. The. Fuck. Off. Me! Ow!." I managed to fend some off us, but there was just too many to whack away. Some managed to get a couple bites in before I could shake them off.

"Kids! Athan, Annabeth! Are you alright?" We heard our father's voice behind the door.

"DADDY HELP!" Annabeth wailed, sobbing uncontrollably. And then, immediately, as if an alarm had been set off, the spiders started to scurry back to wherever they came from, and by the time everyone had entered our room….

"Kids! What's going on?!" Frederick stomped into the room, and looked annoyed when he saw nothing major had happened. Except it did. We saw it.

"T-T-T-here w-was sp-sp-spiders, and-" Annabeth continued to stutter, not even able to form a coherent sentence. The poor girl was now scarred for life. Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever sleep again either.

Our father sighed "It was a nightmare, guys. Go to sleep." I gave him an incredulous look. Was he serious? Knowing who we are, how could he not believe her?

Annabeth shook her head furiously. "NO! I-It was real! Athan saw them too! There were sp-sp-spiders everywhere!" My sister looked at me, begging me with her eyes to tell them the same.

"Annabeth, I think all you had was a nightmare." Helen said soothingly.

"What? No! She's right!" My parents looked at me surprised.

"Athan, not you too…." Helen said with a shake of her head. I looked at her disbelievingly. Why? Why didn't she believe me? I looked towards my father.

"Dad?" I asked hopefully. Frederick pursed his lips, before saying. "Go to sleep. Both of you. All you had was a nightmare, Annabeth. Athan, you don't have to lie for her. Neither of you are in trouble."

Is he fucking serious? Are both of them?

Not soon afterwards, did they finally leave us be. I looked back at Annabeth, who was sitting up and pulling her knees towards her chest. Her little eyes were wide and filled with emotion. I scooted over to her side, and asked "You okay Annie?"

She shook her head. I wrapped an arm around her, and she simply laid her head against my chest. She looked up at me and asked "Do you think we're gonna be alright?"

I wasn't sure what she meant, so I asked, "What do you mean?"

"You think we're gonna see that happen again?" I didn't answer at first, preferring to look up at the ceiling instead. After a couple of minutes, I said, "Yeah. Probably. Maybe even worse." Annabeth nodded, before going back to sleep. I continued to stare up at the ceiling for awhile longer, before my eyes started to get tired.

 _Three years? Less even. Let's just see if I can keep us alive until then._

And if not me, then at least Annabeth would be safe. Just as it was meant to be.

* * *

I cracked an eye open. It was the middle of the night, what the hell was Annabeth doing? Turning on the lamp, I caught my sister like a deer in headlights, frozen, putting clothes into her bag. I blinked. Time sure does fly by.

"Watcha doin'?" I asked, despite knowing exactly what she was doing. Annabeth looked down, before saying "Leaving."

I tilted my head to the side. "Why?"

Her eyes glistened, before looking away. "Nobody wants me here." she muttered. I frowned.

"I do."

She fidgeted. "You're different…." I didn't ask for her to elaborate. Instead, I asked, "Can I leave with you?"

She looked surprised. "B-But, they like you here. Nobody wants-"

"I don't care. I do." I stood up, and stretched. "Besides, I'm your brother. _I_ have to protect you. It's like a rule." I told her. She smiled, blushing a bit.

"Thanks." My lips twitched upwards, before saying "Alright, let me pack."

* * *

 **Sorry if it's not quite what you expected, but it'll get more interesting as the story unravels. I just wanted to give you a small, yet short, taste of the life of Annabeth, starting as a child.**

 **Please follow, favorite and review.**

 **~Peace~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Not at all surprised my story didn't get much attention, but I'm way too into SI stories to not try and make one of my own.**

* * *

[On The Run]

* * *

I packed my and Annabeth's things. I say Annabeth because it doesn't seem like she knew what was really important and what wasn't. She pouted when I told her that, which I thought was cute.

Back on topic, I packed us both the essentials, food, clothes, water, and extra pair of shoes, and a few personal belongings of our own. Annabeth, took a book on architecture (she just recently became obsessed), a stuffed animal (Owly the Owl, ironically) and our father's college ring. I tilted my head a little at that. Did she also take that with her in canon? Did Frederick not give it to her at some point in time? Well, not that surprising. I know that deep down, Annabeth is just yearning for more of our father's affection. Too bad he's to much of a dumbass to notice it.

Me, I took an art book that Helen bought for me, after she noticed how much of an artist I was when I doodled a fox. Apparently that talent never left me even as I traveled from one dimension to the next. I also took a picture of a family portrait our family took together one day. Even little Bobby and Matthew were in it, who weren't born that long ago. It was the one time we felt connected as a family, all differences aside when we took it at that amusement park. I shut my eyes tightly, ignoring the feelings of guilt that arose in me. I could stop Annabeth from leaving, and I could solve all of our family issues by simply speaking up. But things happened for a reason, even if the results were…less than desirable.

 _Ugh, how I hate fate._

An odd feeling of deja vu hit me when I said that. Odd.

"Psst, Athan! Let's go!" I shook my head "no". Annabeth looked at me quizzically. "Why?"

"We need money. I'm going to sneak into their rooms." I whispered back. Annabeth paled, and furiously shook her head.

"What? No, you're gonna wake them up!" Annabeth insisted that we leave already, but I wasn't stupid.

"Don't worry about me, just wait by the front door. If you see me run out, then just assume the worst and follow me." I then "stealthily" made my way upstairs. Well, not really stealthily, more like awkwardly tiptoeing and hoping I didn't make any noise that'll wake up our great dane, Jerry.

I finally made it up to my parents bedroom. I didn't even bother to slowly open the door, idiots never realize that most of the time the doors will creak and probably get you caught. I simply opened it, walked in, and began blindly searching. That's when I finally caught ahold of some type of object. Who leaves their wallet on the-

 _Squeak!_

I can not express how fucking terrified I became when I accidentally squeezed our dog's chew toy. I definitely can't tell you how hard my heart pounded against my chest when I heard our dog give a couple of light barks.

 _Stay calm. They haven't stirred awake._

Yep, Frederick and Helen were both out like a light. Letting out a shaky breath, I stood up, and quietly searched the desk. That's when I felt my hands grab two leather patches. A wallet and a purse. I grinned.

I snuck out, finally making it out with a shitload of cash, and three debit cards. Annabeth looked shocked. "Woah, how'd you do that?!" She nearly screamed. I covered her mouth before saying "Come on, let's go." But before we could leave, we heard a whimper. We looked back to see it was Jerry, our dog. He looked sad, as if he knew we wouldn't come back in a long time.

"Damn it, Jerry, don't screw this up for us." I told him. The dog only continued to cry, as if saying "don't leave".

"…Maybe we should take him." Annabeth said. I shook my head. There's no way we'd get very far like that. "Annabeth we can't…"

"But then he'll be all sad! Look at him, he cares about you the most."

Hesitantly, I looked into Jerry's big, chocolate brown eyes…

A couple of minutes later, we were walking out of the neighborhood, Jerry happily tagging along. Annabeth kept skipping as we walked out on the streets, due to the nervousness she was probably feeling. I probably would've done the same, had Jerry not kept dragging me around like a rag doll. Man I hate this useless, childish body.

"We're gonna get caught like this." I said, as I uselessly tried to curb Jerry.

Annabeth didn't seem to mind. "It'll be okay. Besides, look how happy he looks." Indeed, the great dane looked very pleased.

Either we're gonna fucking die, and indirectly destroy the world, or we're gonna get caught...and destroy the world. I grimaced. Annabeth was way too important to risk this shit. Most outcomes ended up with Kronos ruling the world. We wouldn't even get a chance to fight Gaea.

I was very aware of how much I probably shouldn't be throwing those names around, but Gaea doesn't even have enough power to enter my mind at the moment, and Kronos doesn't have enough of himself to form a consciousness. So I was fine.

"Athan?" I tried to stop, but Jerry kept forcing me to walk.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we gonna go?" I paused. I almost said "Virginia", because that's where Annabeth had met Luke and Thalia in canon. I couldn't just tell her that though, I needed to wait for a signal, a dream. Or else the gods would be on to me. Not enough to mark me as a threat, but they'd be keeping their eyes on me until eventually I fucked up.

"Let's just go sleep out in the woods for now. Nobody will find us there." Annabeth nodded, understanding my reasoning. Young she might've been, but she understood that by the time our parents reported us missing the next morning we would've already been long gone and on the move.

We made it to the woods, and Annabeth suggested to leave behind a trail so that we'd be able to find our way back.

"Annabeth, give me your bag. I wanna take out the blanket so that we can sleep on it." she did as I told her, slipping off the bag she was carrying on her back, and taking out the large blanket for us to sleep on. Jerry, decided to lay on our makeshift bed, yawning, and looking at us with expectant eyes. Me and Annabeth looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Looks like we have a pillow now," Annabeth joked. I chuckled, and laid my head against the great dane's body. Annabeth laid right next to me. We simply laid there in silence for a couple of minutes, before Annabeth ruined the silence.

"I'm glad." she said. I raised an eyebrow. "About what?" Annabeth smiled a bright smile. "That I wouldn't have to leave alone. You're my real family!" I was stunned. Wow, my heart actually skipped a beat at how adorable and pure that sounded.

"G-Go to sleep Annabeth."

"You're blushing…." she teased.

"Go to sleep, dammit!"

"Bad words…."

We slept on a barely comfortable blanket, a "pillow" that kept breathing, and in the chilly summer night air. And yet it was one night when we didn't have to worry about Arachne's little pests.

* * *

 _I looked around. It was night, in what I assumed was the 1700s, England. The architecture gave it away._

 _I scratched the back of my head. This is a demigod dream, huh? Random clairvoyance must suck._

 _What's the point of this? I wondered. I knew Annabeth would probably get a demigod dream, but why me?_

 _"Stop!" I jumped. That wasn't me._

 _"I said stop! In the name of the gods, stop this instance, Henry!" A man ran passed me, Henry I assumed, and his chaser came soon after. I blinked, and chased after them. I assumed my important demigod dream message thing came from whatever that was supposed to be._

 _Running through the streets of mid-18th century London (or not, never been there), I ignored all the bystanders (doubt they can see me), as I ran towards the ones that actually mattered in this dream of mine. Seeing them slip into an ally, I also went in, only to find them in a standoff. Positive neither were able to see me, I came closer, wanting to hear the conversation._

 _"You didn't think you'd outrun me, did you Henry?" The chaser pulled out a revolver, aiming it at Henry._

 _Henry laughed. "Always the quick ones, you children of Hermes. Tell me Thomas, how pathetic, do you feel, bowing down to the gods and fate? Never embracing the potential of mankind?" Huh?_

 _Thomas's grip on the revolver tightened. "Henry, I know you feel mistreated because of how little acknowledgement your mother has gotten, but I assure you, times are changing…" Henry began laughing once more._

 _"Yes, times are changing indeed. Tell me, how much longer do you think Great Britain has before the 13 colonies declare their independence?" How the fuck did he know that?!_

 _Thomas looked confused. "Independence? What are you talking about?" Instead of elaborating, Henry smirked. Something about the way he smirked seemed familiar…_

 _"Never mind that. I'm just messing with you. But back on topic, do you really think this has anything to do with Hecate? Do you think I care for her? Idiot, I'm being literal! How can you acknowledge those fake gods? How can you simply accept your fates, knowing you don't deserve the end that could lie ahead?!"_

 _Thomas was lost, but he answered anyway. "Because they're my family, Henry. Because it's right, Henry. Because I don't have any other choice, Henry. Because there's NOTHING I can do about it, HENRY!" Henry's eyes showed pity, as if looking at a lost child._

 _"Look at the sins they've committed, Thomas! They are gods, it is their duty to keep us on the correct path, and yet look at what the world has come to! They allow slavery to happen, they allow wars to be waged, they watch as their children run into battle only to be slaughtered before they know the taste of alcohol. Look at our history, look at the atrocious acts they've committed out of their pettiness and anger! And mankind is the one that suffers for it! As if everything revolved around them and only them! Well, I refuse to stand by any longer…" Henry pulled out a silver dagger out of his coat._

 _"The Faithless will one day rise, and eliminate all of this world's past mistakes, 'till the day where mankind can finally shape its own destiny!" With a cry, Henry charged at Thomas, dagger poised forward with intent to kill. Thomas on the other hand, looked away as he pulled the trigger…_

* * *

My eyes snapped open, waking up to the sunlight shining on my face. I sucked my teeth, nearly cursing Apollo for being so goddamn bright.

What an odd dream I thought to myself. I felt a pair of arms wrapped around me, which was obviously Annabeth. I detached myself from her arms, which caused her to wake.

"…What?" she rubbed one tired eye. Damn it, why'd she have to so freaking cute?

"Come on, we're leaving. It's not that early, so Dad has probably reported us to the police by now." I grabbed Jerry's leash, urging him to get up and start walking. He did, dragging me as he did so. Annabeth caught up, our bags in her hands. She helped me slip on mine, and with that said and done, we started making our way out of the woods.

"Athan, I had a dream last night." Annabeth said as she put her hair into a ponytail.

"The usual?" I asked. Ever since that night the spiders first attacked, the characteristics of a typical demigod hit is hard. Dreams of death, punishment by the gods, spiders and worse hit us more often than not. It never surprised me if I ever found Annabeth crying in the middle of the night, since I often had to be the one to comfort her. Arachne kept sending her children to torment us, which I had to fight off to keep my sister safe. Then the first monster attack came…which eventually led to our current situation.

My twin shook her head. "It was different. Actually…mom talked to me." I feigned acting surprised.

"Really?! How was she like?" I asked, maybe a bit too overly enthusiastic. Annabeth smiled.

"She…she was awesome! She was tall, and pretty, and, and, she had our eyes!" She looked at me. "She looks a little bit more like you because you both have the same hair!"

Well that's interesting to know. If I bare a stronger resemblance to Athena than Annabeth does…meaning I probably looked more like her than any one of my siblings.

"Did…mom, tell you anything?" cutting off Annabeth. She blinked, then nodded.

"Yeah, she said that we need to go to someplace called Tredegar Iron Works. I don't know where that is though…but she said that you could help us get there!" I was taken back.

"Me?" Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, mom said you're a lot smarter than you think. She wanted to talk to us both, but mom said you were having a weird nightmare. She said she couldn't interfere, or the shock would fry your brain." She looked a little concerned. "What were you dreaming about last night?"

For some reason, I didn't feel like telling her. Maybe because she was only seven, or maybe because the dream felt oddly personal to me for some reason. Whatever the reason, I changed the topic.

"So, let's go to Virginia, shall we?" my twin didn't seem to notice I had changed the topic, something I was grateful for.

"You do know where it is!" Annabeth looked surprised I actually knew something like that. I nodded. "Yep. Richmond, Virginia."

Annabeth scrunched her little eyebrows. "But isn't Virginia far?" she asked. To every little kid, no matter how smart, everywhere that wasn't where they lived seemed very far to them.

"Well, not really. If we try to walk there, we won't make it very far. But if we take a taxi, we'll be there by nightfall." I tugged a little harder as Jerry almost ran off. He only gets like this when he's hungry. Damn, now that I think about it, so was I.

"Hey Annie, let's go find someplace to eat first. I'm starving." She rolled her eyes.

"You're always hungry."

"Aren't you?" not a second later, did her stomach growl."

"…I want pancakes."

* * *

After around three hours of near endless walking (with breaks in between), we found a diner that was still serving breakfast. I was able to hold up after all that time, but my poor sister and dog were pretty much suffering. I tied Jerry outside, even let him have the blanket so that'd he'd be comfortable. The poor dog pitifully licked his aching feet as we entered the diner.

"We need to get Jerry something too…" Annabeth said, looking at me. I assured her that Jerry would get some food too.

We picked a booth, and slid inside, which once again did not fail to remind me of my short height. I now know what it truly means to be a midget.

A cute waitress came by, giving us our menus. "Just order whatever you want sweeties. I'll even make it on the house." she smiled kindly at us.

Annabeth gawked. "Free food!" she turned to me and mouthed the words "hell yes!", something she might've picked up from me. She left us to order, though Annabeth had already decided to get some flapjacks. I was still deciding, though I had secretly already made up my mind, and instead focused on the uneasy feeling I got from that waitress. Why'd she give us free food, just like that? We didn't even have to feed her a sob story. So willing to feed us almost as if…

The waitress returned, with a little notepad in hand. "Alright children, may I take your order?"

I ordered for myself and Annabeth, as I didn't want Annabeth to continuously whine "I want pancakes!" the waitress wrote down our orders, though she looked at me funny when I ordered a rather large platter of food, along with an extra order of eggs and a bowl of water. Jerry was probably starving by now.

"Will that be all kids?" We nodded. She turned to walk away, but looked at me for a second and said, "Are you sure, Athan Chase?"

A chill ran through my spine, and heart began beating faster. "Yep." The moment she left, I grabbed Annabeth's hand, and I tried to run with her.

"Hey, what're you doing?!" Annabeth nearly screeched. I smacked my hand against her mouth, holding up a finger to mine. "We gotta go. Like right now."

"Huh? Why?" Annabeth looked lost. I explained, "Because, that lady knew my name. I didn't tell her my name. She might be a monster, so we have to leave, this instant."

Annabeth nodded, understanding as the Athenian rationale probably kicked in. We made to leave, but suddenly the waitress was back, both of her hands holding large platters of drinks and food. I blinked. I didn't remember ordering that much.

"Kids, where are you going? I just brought your breakfast. Sit down." For some reason, I felt compelled to do as she said. Annabeth didn't seem to fight it either. When we sat down back in our booth, she let us be, but not before leaving behind a little something.

"What's that?" Annabeth asked, making sure to not eat with her mouth full, as polite as ever. I was the opposite.

"Ra ni no." I said, causing my twin to crinkle her nose. "Ew, swallow you dork."

I did. "I don't know." I held up the strange trinket, studying it. It was a necklace, a simple one. The string was a pale yellow, almost white, and hanging from it was a small iron sphere, that I could easily close my hand over. The metal was dull, as if it had existed for many years without much rusting, and had a symbol engraved over it. A broken infinity sign, with one end seemingly broken off to represent the end of eternity.

 _Maybe cult related?_ I thought. Maybe. I pocketed it to observe later.

After we finished, I slapped a hundred dollar bill on the counter, before we finally left, Jerry dragging Annabeth instead of me. I kept laughing as we made our way to the city, and took a few hours, so I laughed for a very long time.

"STOP LAUGHING!" Annabeth screeched, sounding genuinely upset. I toned it down, but I kept letting out a snicker every now and then, as the sight of a large dog dragging a little girl by his leash was way too hilarious.

"Can you just hurry up and call the taxi already?" she whined. I nodded. I told her to stay here, as I made my way out to the street, calling for a cab New Yorker style: standing in the middle of the street, while waving one of my arms and whistling. The reactions were actually amusing, as I kept getting cursed at despite my age. It took a while, but one of the smarter ones finally realized I was calling for them, and parked in front of me. Fucking finally.

"Annabeth, over here!" I waved her over, and helped her get our stupid dog in the cab. She went in the middle, and I went in last, getting the window seat. She didn't complain though, because she knew I got nauseous when riding inside a car.

"Um...where are your parents?" The asian driver asked us. I shrugged. "Who knows? Look, can you get us to Richmond, Virginia?"

"Virginia? That's a really long drive kid! I can only take you halfway there." I sucked my teeth. Shit. That'd leave at least another 3 days on foot.

"That's not good enough-"

"We'll take it." Annabeth interjected. I glared at her.

The driver looked skeptical. "You kids even have any money?" Annabeth reached into my pocket, and pulled out a thick stack of cash. The driver didn't look hesitant anymore.

"Buckle up kids, this is gonna be a long drive." The driver put the cab in drive, as we sped off. Jerry laid down across our laps, yawning. I scratched his head, before speaking to Annabeth.

"Why'd you interrupt? I could've made him take us all the way to Virginia." I said, scowling. I'd rather not deal with any monsters on the way.

Annabeth glared back at me. "Yeah, because you're so reasonable, right?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you get violent and bratty-"

"Oh I'm bratty? You should be the last one to talk princess-"

"Who are you calling princess?!"

* * *

I opened my eyes, groaning, as I lifted my head up from our current upside down position.

 _Idiot driver, how'd we crash?_ was my first thought. My second was _Annabeth!_

I unbuckled my seatbelt, hitting the ceiling and the broken glass, wincing. I helped Annabeth out of her seat, taking in her unconscious state. I looked at Jerry, who was whimpering and laid down pitifully. I saw blood stained fur on his side, and I paled. I ripped apart a spare shirt, removed some of the larger glass shards, and tied it around him to stop the bleeding. He looked at with sad brown eyes. I scratched the back of his ear. "Don't worry boy, you'll be fine."

With a shout, I kicked open the other window, and Jerry got himself out. I dragged Annabeth out, carrying her in my arms. I looked back, considering helping the driver, but then discarded the idea realizing Annabeth mattered more to me than the life of a taxi driver.

"Don't worry sis, I'll protect you." I muttered. I'll have to do something about the cut on her forehead. I carried both of our bags, and told the dog to follow us, ignoring the pandemonium going on right now. Stupid idiots. Can't even fucking drive-

" **REEEEH!** " I paused, feeling the blood in me freeze. Only once have I ever gotten this feeling before.

It was during our first monster attack. We were attacked by hellhounds. But instead of a hellhound, I ended up looking at a giant boar, who was at least thirty feet tall.

 _How the fuck did we end up getting the Erymanthian Boar?!_

The third of the Twelve Labors of Heracles squealed, and charged. Jerry ran off in fear, and I only had so much time to react. I used that time to save Annabeth instead, and threw her aside, bracing myself. As the Erymanthian Boar drew near, my ADHD kicked in, and when it finally approached me, I jumped a surprisingly amount of feet, landing on the boar's tusk. I stared into it's wild eyes. "'Sup?" I said with a chill wave and a nod. The boar snarled, and started wildly shaking it's head, trying to shake me off. I wasn't at all prepared, and even if I was, I was only seven. The Erymanthian Boar basically tossed me around like a ragdoll, in which eventually I was forced to let go and landed on top of a car. I ignored the mortal woman that was concerning herself over my well being. Only I could beat this, or at least stall it so that the mortals could evacuate.

This wasn't how I pictured my first monster battle to be like. I thought with a grimace. I had broken probably two of my right ribs. Honestly, as stupid as it sounds, I pictured my first battle with me struggling at first been then gaining the upper hand in a really cool fashion. Maybe some anime OST in the background. This was completely different from what I expected. All that I could hear was the beating of my heart, the adrenaline heavily suppressing my fear, and the pain I was currently feeling. Had it not been for the adrenaline, I don't think I would've been able to move.

 _The knife. I need the knife._

Me and Annabeth had both taken a weapon before we left home. She took a hammer (of course she did), and I took a silver knife from the kitchen, which was about a foot long. The Hunters used silver weapons all the time, so I figured that it was equally effective against monsters, just like celestial bronze or any of the other metals.

The Erymanthian Boar let out steam through its nostrils (huh?), and prepared to charge at me again. I managed to get up, working through the pain. If this thing was as simple minded as I assumed, then all I had to was aggravate it. Simple enough.

"Hey pigshit!" The boar looked confused, though I wasn't sure how I knew that. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. Guess what? Fuck Pan!" The boar began stomping the earth. "Yeah, I wonder why he hasn't faded already, what a useless god of nature!" I'd regret saying that someday. In world of earth deities, nature spirits, and etcetera, I knew I'd regret that statement soon.

" **REEEH!** " The boar charged again, and this time I didn't move, not until the last moment. It was like the Minotaur, the Erymanthian Boar was a fast creature, but not very agile due to its size and shape. It can't change direction so easily.

I rolled out of the way, hitting the road, while the beast flew into a rage and fucked somebody else's car. I ran towards my bag, and opened it up, desperately looking for the knife. I looked up, and noticed that the boar was already making its way towards me.

 _Shit!_ I finally managed to find the knife, but the current situation didn't leave me with enough time or a proper opening to stab it, so I was roll out of the way yet again. I looked up to see the boar crash into a metal sign, barely missing Annabeth.

I tensed up as the boar turned around, as I thought it would go after my twin, but the beast didn't even seem to care. It walked right passed her. This confused me.

 _Why is it only after me then?_ The boar, predictably, charged again, but I was ready. Instincts kicking in, I jumped landing on its face. But unlike last time, I landed on its snout, and so I grabbed it by the tusks (which was really difficult considering their size), and yanked it to the right. This messed with the Erymanthian Boar's momentum, and fell on its side, taking me down with it.

I got up, and climbed on top of the fallen animal. I walked towards its underside, kneeled, and lifted the knife.

Large creatures like this boar tend to be really strong, and have high durability. However, like any creature of this size and rough shape, they have a weakness, being on their underside. Meaning right. HERE!

I stabbed the Erymanthian Boar in its stomach, causing it to squeal in agony. I kept going, dragging my knife across its abdomen. But that wasn't enough.

"After all this shit I went through, I'm getting what I deserve. No, what we need!" I growled, grabbed the tip of the boar's tusk, tugged, and eventually….

 _SNAP!_

I stumbled, but regained my footing. I looked at my prize. A piece of the Erymanthian Boar's tusk, only the tip, which was still at least as long as a pair of adult hands. The monster dissolved into dust shortly afterwards. I walked towards Annabeth, cradling my little sister in my arms. I felt her pulse.

Still breathing.

I lifted the Erymanthian Boar's tusk over my head, and shouted. "Mother! Hermes! I sacrifice this spoil of war to you both, in exchange that you lead my sister and I to safety!" As the god of travelers, I thought Hermes would help lead us to safety. I put the tusk on the ground, and watched as it disappeared.

I blinked once, and I felt….better. I looked down on myself, and saw that I felt perfectly fine. I felt Annabeth stir in my arms.

"Athan?" she asked groggily. I laughed, and hugged her. It worked! Annabeth looked perfectly fine, the cut on her forehead having healed.

"H-Hey, what's going on? What happened? Where's Jerry?" My good mood died a little at the mention of our now lost dog.

"Don't worry about that. I'll tell you later, but we need to go, now." I could hear the sounds of police sirens and ambulances heading this way. I handed her her bag, and took my own, along with my knife.

"Where are we going now?" Annabeth asked. I smiled, and pointed in the direction of the woods. Annabeth looked, and a smile grew on her face.

"That's mom!" she said. Indeed, Athena had given us a trail to follow. It was an obvious path, not to mention the owls surrounding it.

"What are we waiting for? Come on!" Annabeth ran down the forest path, and I followed after her. As we disappeared into the woods, the entrance closed off, and the owls flew away

* * *

Unbeknownst to the children of Athena, a waitress had watched the whole thing. In fact, she had orchestrated the entire attack. She picked up the fallen necklace, and frowned.

 _He dropped it, yet it's still here. Meaning he's not the…._ that thought trailed off as the necklace disappeared, most likely returning to its original owner. The woman grinned.

 _Or maybe he is. Athan Chase, hmm? You'll soon return. Return and claim your rightful place among us._

The waitress disappeared, not a trace left behind.

* * *

 **That's all for this chapter. Please tell me your thoughts in the reviews.**

 **~Peace~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's another chapter. I'm trying to rush through the beginning portion as well as I can. Hope you guys enjoy.**

* * *

[To Virginia]

* * *

I woke up from surprisingly dreamless sleep, to find Annabeth with a bottle of water over me.

"Gah! What're you doing?!" I rolled away from her, not wanting to be hit with ice cold water. She shrugged, capping the bottle.

"You didn't want to wake up, so I had to take drastic measures…." she innocently shook the water bottle. I scoffed. "Fine whatever. What'd you wake me up for?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Because it's your shift. Duh." I flicked her nose without warning, to which she tried to retaliate with a smack.

"Alright, alright, it's my shift. Whatever, go to sleep." She rested her head against her bag, and shut her eyes. Within minutes, she was out cold. How I wish I could fall asleep that easily.

It's been two days since the attack of the Erymanthian Boar, and over three days in total since we left home. We were still on the forest path left by us from mother and Hermes. Even so, it would seem as if that didn't completely stop monsters from attacking us. We encountered a giant scorpion just the other day, which neither me or Annabeth tried to engage. I was still wrapping my around the fact I had killed a giant boar, I'm definitely not getting into a fight with a giant scorpion. They were like the cousins of spiders.

 _'Speaking of which'_ , I picked up Annabeth's hammer and crushed a spider that was getting a little too close for comfort.

I looked up at the night sky, which didn't look so polluted for once, hearing the constant hooting of my mother's sacred animals.

"How much longer, mother?" I muttered as an owl soared down. I lifted up an arm, letting the creature land on my arm. Most would consider that unsafe considering an owl's sharp talons, but I somehow knew this animal would never harm me. I carefully scratched its head. It leaned in to my touch. "You're a cute little guy, aren't you?"

 _"Thank you, but I think I'd prefer it if you used the term "handsome" instead."_

I blinked. Did this bird just…

"You can talk?" I asked, sitting upright.

 _"More like we can hear each other's thoughts, mainly because you are my lady's child."_ The owl said. Or thought. I didn't think I'd have to ability to speak with owls, though I guess if Percy can communicate with horses and creatures of the sea, then I should be able to do the same thing with owls.

"I…I see. Did mother send you to watch over us?" I asked the owl. The owl nodded.

 _"Indeed she did. I am to be your guardian, to be more specific, but I will gladly watch over your twin as well."_

I frowned. "Why me specifically?" The owl looked at me oddly.

 _"Is it not obvious? Because you are special. I say, to have killed the Erymanthian Boar at such a young age is something unheard of. Lady Athena is proud, so proud in fact she actually bragged about it to the other gods on Olympus."_

I coughed, uncomfortable with the amount of praise I had unintentionally received. Though, I couldn't help but feel proud, despite the fact that I only won due to luck.

 _"But,"_ the owl continued, _"I was also sent to you because of a certain trinket you're currently carrying on you."_

"What do you mean?" Then that's when it clicked, I reached into my pocket. The necklace handed down to me by that odd waitress. "You mean this thing?" The owl nodded.

 _"Yes, it is that artifact specifically. Are you aware of the fact that at some point during your earlier battle, you lost that necklace?"_

I was a bit taken back by that. "That's not possible." I tried to say.

 _"It is true. Yet, when you left, it disappeared and returned to you. I'm here just in case I can help Lady Athena figure out exactly why it was handed down to you."_

I fidgeted around with the necklace a bit. It didn't seem to radiate any type of pressure or anything like that. I looked at the symbol engraved onto it. Ishowed it to the guardian owl.

"Any idea what this is? What it means, to be more specific?"

The owl tilted his head. _"Well, that's broken infinity. It represents the end, timelessness, something along those lines. I think it might be related to an old cult, but it's been decades since they were even last heard of…"_ the owl trailed off. I tried to get some more details. "You know the name of this cult? Their purpose, etcetera?" The owl seemed to be in deep thought.

"I'm not sure what they were aiming for, not even the Olympians had put to much interest into them. Let's see, what were they called again…ah, yes, the Faithless."

My eyes widened.

 _"The Faithless will one day rise, and eliminate all of this world's past mistakes, 'till the day where mankind can finally shape its own destiny!"_

 _"Lord, lord! Are you alright?"_ I shook off some of the dizziness that came out of nowhere, saying "Yeah, I'm okay."

 _"Are you sure? Your nose is bleeding…"_ the owl pointed out. I blinked, wiping away the blood with my sleeve. Odd.

"Don't worry about that. So, uh, is that all?" The owl still seemed concerned, but answered " _yes_."

Just as the owl prepared to fly off, I asked, "Wait, will I see you again? And if I do, can I get a name?"

The owl paused to look at me. _"Most likely yes. And I don't necessarily have one that you can pronounce anyway…"_ he trailed off. I paused, thinking about it.

"How about Paratiritís?" I asked.

The owl contemplated this. _"Observer, watcher, contemplater…odd, I feel as if that name suits you more than me."_

The owl, no Paratiritís, then flew off, leaving us alone with my thoughts. I grabbed the rusty metal orb of my necklace. I examined it, before I decided to just wear it, leaning back on the tree I was on earlier.

' _Looks like I've found my purpose now.'_

* * *

The sign read, "you are now entering Virginia." Fucking finally.

"Yes, we're here. Finally." I had a feeling like Annabeth wanted to curse right then and there, but knew I'd probably chastise her, as much of a hypocrite I'd sound.

"Yep. Sweet Virginia, here we are." We sighed, both of us finally glad that we were halfway towards our destination. We simply stood there in silence, looking on as a few cars drove by. That's when Annabeth asked "Okay, now what?" I shrugged, not really knowing. She looked stumped. "What do you mean, I don't know?"

"I mean I don't know! We've had help before, now we're here, and I don't know how to get to Richmond!" I said, agitated. I wasn't the best when it came to directions. Hell, I needed a GPS just to go to the corner store.

Annabeth crossed her arms, rocking back and forth, before saying "Why not just grab a cab again, or something?"

I grimaced. "That didn't turn out very well last time."

"I doubt it'll be that bad this time though." Damn it Annabeth, don't jinx us!

"How are we gonna get anyone to pick us up?" I inquired. She smirked. "Look at us. We're dirty, homeless kids. All we gotta do is act cute and act defenseless."

I laughed. "No way that'll work. You're definitely not defenseless, much less cute." That earned me a smack to the head.

"Shut up. It'll work. Just watch." Annabeth took out the rubber band she was using to keep her hair together, and let it fall. She reached down, patted her hands with dirt, and lightly covered her face with it. She grinned. "There see? Now you try."

I rolled my eyes, a large part of me embarrassed that I was reduced to something like this, but I shoved it down.

"There, we're even more filthy than we were before. Now what?" Annabeth smirked.

"Now we beg."

It took less than twenty minutes for someone to take pity on the poor, dirty children that were crying out for help.

"Oh you poor kids." said the brunette as we got inside her car. "What happened to your parents? Why are you two out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Daddy was being mean, dumped us here and then drove off. We've been out here for days. We're hungry." Annabeth sure made a convincing abused child.

"Can't believe the people in this world…" I heard the lady mutter. She started the engine, then looked back at us, giving us a kind smile. She began driving, and I saw Annabeth mouth the word 'score' from me. Cheeky little brat…but for once I was grateful for it.

"So kids, what're your names? Mines is Amanda." she introduced, and waited for us to do the same. I decided to speak up before Annabeth made the mistake of giving up our real names.

"I'm James, and she's my sister, Cassandra!" I said a bit childishly.

"No last names?"

"Cole." I provided. I inwardly grinned at the reference*.

"James and Cassandra Cole, huh? Catchy. Well James, I'll be taking you guys to where I live for now. But first, how about we get something to eat, shall we?"

We both nodded like obedient children, and while she kept her eyes focused on the road, me and Annabeth gave each other elf grins. But then something occurred to me.

"Ms. Amanda?" I asked shyly. She acknowledged me. "Hm?"

"Where do you live?"

"Oh, just in a nice little house in Richmond. Why?"

Our grins grew. "No reason."

Two hours had gone by, and once we entered Richmond, we stopped by a gas station, which also happened to be near a diner. Amanda left us alone for a little, so that she could fill up her tank. She told us to stay put while she did so. We only ate a little as we weren't that hungry to begin with, then bolted out of the diner, running for god knows how long before we were positive that we had finally gotten out of sight.

"We still don't know where Tredegar Iron Works is." Annabeth pointed out. I rolled my eyes. "I know that, Annabeth."

"We're lost."

"I know Annabeth."

"You suck with directions." My eye twitched.

Neither of us were willing to ask for directions, because Annabeth pointed out to me that we were the headlines on the newspaper when we first disappeared, and Amanda had probably notified the police of our whereabouts. Or lack there of. I hadn't thought of that, I was just being stubborn.

"We're gonna die." Annabeth whined as we shivered in an alleyway. I rolled my eyes. "We're not gonna die, Annabeth."

"Well it sure feels like it." she muttered. I shut my eyes, thinking, _'heh, if only Paratiritís was here right now.'_

 _"You called, young master?"_ said a voice in my head as I heard the flapping of wings. My eyes opened up, to see Paratiritís soaring down towards us. I lifted my up an arm for him to land on.

"Woah, is that an owl?" Annabeth asked as she stared at the bird. I found myself grinning. "Annabeth, meet Paratiritís. He's an owl mom sent to watch us."

"Um, hi?" she said tentatively. Paratiritís raised one wing, as if to wave. _"Hello, young mistress. I am Paratiritís. I am at both yours and your brother's service."_ he finished with a bow. Annabeth giggled.

"Paratiritìs, can you lead us to our destination?" I asked. The owl nodded.

 _"Yes. If you follow me, I can assure you both that I can lead you to this Tredegar Iron Works location."_ the bird spread its wings, before flying off.

"Well, follow the bird, I guess." I said, before running off, leaving Annabeth to catch up.

"Hey, wait for me!"

It took us several hours to find Tredegar Iron Works, since it was apparently rather far on foot and also due to the fact that we kept losing Paratiritís because of how dark it was. Though sunrise was nearing…

 _"Alright, here it is."_ said the owl. We both looked at the rather old factory, which was pretty much falling apart.

 _"Well, I'll leave you both to it then."_ With that said, Paratiritís flew off, probably not really gone, just making it look like it so that he could properly watch us…despite how unnecessary that was.

"Now what?" asked Annabeth. I shrugged. "No clue for once. I guess we just go inside, have a look around."

And now, we simply wait.

* * *

 **Short, but I didn't have much to write this chapter. I doubt if I delayed the upload I would've written much more, and if I did, it would've sucked.**

 **Anyway, hoped you enjoyed. Follow, favorite and review.**

 **~Peace~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for taking so long. Just now realized my laptop** _ **does**_ **actually still work. Thank god for that. Hopefully, you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

[A Chance Encounter]

* * *

A Yale. A freaking Yale.

How?

"Gah! Annabeth, what the hell are you doing?! You almost took my head off!" I shouted as I tried to tame the creature I was currently riding.

"Sorry!" she yelled back. She had just been trying to help me, but god damn, as if she didn't almost take my head off when she threw that hammer.

Confused? Let me explain. It's been several days since me and Annabeth had arrived at the ruins of Tredegar Iron Works. During the time we've been waiting for Luke and Thalia, we've been attacked by several monsters. Strangely enough, they all seemed to come after me, while completely ignoring Annabeth, unless she interfered of course. Now was one of those times.

"Argh!" I fell off the strange deer like creature, fracturing a few ribs in the process, though they'd heal soon.

"Annabeth, run!" Annabeth ran, screaming in terror, climbing up a pile of destroyed machinery on to the upper level. The Yale followed, ready to pierce my twin with its horns in all of its blind rage. I saw a dead end, and panic filled my being. Annabeth wasn't going to make it.

"ANNABETH, NO!" I yelled. But Annabeth didn't just stop at that dead end and wait for certain death. No, my sister, a child of wisdom, retriever of our mother's statue,who'd one day be one of the only mortals to ever escape Tartarus alive….jumped.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" I screamed. But then Annabeth grabbed on to a long metal chain dangling from the ceiling, and when the Yale jumped off as well, it fell to its death, scattering into dust and gold particles as it collided head first with the concrete floor. I blinked.

 _'Huh. Leave it to Annabeth to beat a monster with wits, rather than brawn.'_ most of the creatures we'd encountered were killed by me, and I've definitely made some rather while in combat unwise decisions whenever I took them on, but that was only because of the necklace I wore, which allowed me to be a lot more reckless than Annabeth, and pretty much anyone, with its regenerative properties. It allows me to be reckless every now and then. I don't know why in the hell, or Tartarus, as to why _anyone_ would give away such a useful item. Unless I was cursed, which was probably the case, in which I was screwed. Even as I narrate, my wounds are healing themselves. I got up, cracking my back. _'Ah, that's nice.'_ I thought.

"What the hell's wrong with you?! You could've died!" I shouted at my twin, who was still holding on to the chain.

"I least I didn't get hurt like you do all the time! And I _didn't die_ , so there!" Annabeth shouted backing, stubbornly ending that conversation, even if I wanted to argue. But more important things were at hand.

"Alright, whatever, just get down here!" I held out my arms so that I could catch her. It was pretty much the only way she could get down, as she didn't have the required muscle strength to swing her way back onto the balcony. Annabeth hesitated, but eventually let go. She screamed in terror as she fell, but stopped as I 'caught' her. Really, all I did was cushion her fall.

"Why am I always the one getting hurt?" I muttered. I shoved Annabeth off of me, earning myself a glare in the process. We tried to dust ourselves off, however pointless it was. We were _filthy_ , and while we could probably afford a motel, I wasn't going to fuck up the story just because I wanted a shower and a nice bed to sleep on, however tempting the idea was.

I grabbed our bags, and noticed that we starting to run out of food. "Annabeth, we're running out of food. I'm gonna go run to the store real quick." I began walking, but my sister began following.

"I'll go with you." She said. I spun around and told her "no". She scrunched her cute little eyebrows. "What? Why?"

"Because you need to be here in case whatever we came for gets here." I told her.

"But what about you? It's dangerous, what if a monster gets you? Or, or, if the police find you and take you back! Then I'll be alone without even knowing!" Annabeth seemed to panic at the very thought of that last idea. I pulled her in, patting her back. "Annie, don't worry about it. I can take care of myself fine, it's you I'm worried about."

"You have that reversed." She said. I smiled and told her to set up the traps just in case.

I should've been the one worrying. While unlikely, there was a small chance that a monster would get to my twin while unsupervised, and it's unlikely she'd ever survive. The thought of her dying bothered me more than changing canon. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

' _She's gonna have to meet them either way. If we don't meet Thalia, there's an even greater chance of the Great Prophecy happening earlier.'_ and that was not a risk I was willing to take. It wasn't one anyone was willing to take.

And so I left the factory, and got into a taxi, I muttered. "Alright you old hags. You better keep her safe, or else I'll…" I paused, realizing it was unwise to finish that sentence. I kept my mouth shut, but that didn't stop me from thinking '… _or else I'll kill you myself.'_

The promise felt heavy when I thought it, and some uncomfortable emotion crawled into my stomach. I didn't dwell on it.

* * *

I got a lot of strange looks as I made my way down the aisle. I'd look at me strangely too, as it wasn't everyday a dirty homeless boy casually walked into a store whilst stuffing food down his bag. I didn't pack much in terms of variety, sadly. If we had functioning electricity and a microwave, I'd be packing a shit ton of Pizza Rolls and Hot Pockets right about now.

As I stuffed some Double Cream Oreos down my bag, I heard someone clear their throat next to me. "Excuse me young man-" nope. I didn't even spare him a glance as I walked down the aisle.

"Hey!" this time, the employee, an old man, grabbed my arm, and I sighed in irritation. I didn't have time to deal with this mortal's questioning. I tried to yank my arm free, but he held it firmly in place. I rolled my eyes.

"Young man, where are you going with all those items?" the old man demanded. I blinked once. "To pay for it." I made to move, but he didn't let go. My patience was quickly wearing thin. I wasn't a people person.

"With what money?" he further inquired. I pulled out two-hundred dollars out of my pocket, and shoved it into his hand. "This should do." pfft, it definitely should, no way this shit costs more than one-hundred dollars. I yanked my arm free, and began running.

"Hold on-wait! Where are your parents!" I think he called for security, but I'm way too over this shit to deal with security.

' _There are like no perks of being a child of Athena.'_ I thought with a huff. Besides photographic memory, the ability to quickly analyze a situation, and art, but only one of those was useful in a battle. I looked back and went from a sprint, to full blown marathon runner. There were more guards than I had anticipated.

' _Man, I almost want to be the king's kid. Almost.'_ as if I _really_ want to be the son of a man-whore.

When I heard no thunder, I almost made the mistake of thanking the gods that they were only capable of reading my surface thoughts. No, I am _never_ letting those bastards in my head.

* * *

' _It's fucking dark.'_ I thought. That made me uneasy. I didn't mean to be out _that_ long, but I forgot just how far the factory was from civilization.

I dumped some cash onto the driver's hand, and got out as quickly as I could. I ran, I ran because I felt unsettled, unsettled that someone may have gotten to _my sister_ before I had returned, all because I didn't let her-

"Annabeth!" I yelled. I waited for a couple of seconds, before I saw a figure in the distance. The figure waved at me. "Athan!"

I grinned, jogging towards her until we were in front of each other. She hugged me, and I patted her back. We separated, and I asked, "Anything happen while I was gone?"

She grinned, skipping as we made our way back to our 'base'. "Maaaaaybe." she said playfully. I quirked an eyebrow.

"And what does that mean?" she wiggled her finger at me.

"Ah ah ah, you're just gonna have to follow me." she ran back towards base, and I grew annoyed with her games. I ran after her, demanding her to tell me, but she wouldn't budge an inch until we got back. So I played along, and when we got back to base, my jaw _dropped_. Because really. _What the fuck Annabeth?_

"Look! I caught two monsters with the traps we set up!" she seemed pretty god damn proud of this feat, and had this been anyone else I would've praised my little sister for actually managing to flawlessly capture two monsters on her own. But these _weren't_ monsters!

I facepalmed. "Annabeth, let them go." I said. She blinked, not understanding.

"Huh? Why?" I dragged my hand across my face. "Because these guys aren't monsters, Annabeth."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"No you don't."

"Let them go."

"No."

"Now Annabeth."

"Why?"

"Because they're good guys, not monsters. You don't hurt the good guys." Annabeth stubbornly held her ground, but I didn't feel like bantering anymore. I pulled out my rusty kitchen knife, and walked over to the unconscious pre-teens.

' _This meeting wasn't supposed to happen like this.'_ I thought with a sigh. I made sure not to harm the punk girl or the sandy haired dude, despite how tempting it was to give the latter his face scar a few years too early.

Annabeth walked up behind me, pouting. "Darn, I thought they were monsters."

"In what world do these two look like monsters?"

"Remember that guy from Child Protective Services?"

I paused. "Fair point." I ended it there, Annabeth and I making sure Luke and Thalia were in more comfortable positions.

' _This is gonna be a long night.'_

* * *

I kept watch for most of the night, watching my sister and our new friends. I was kinda surprised that Thalia and Luke had already come. It felt too soon, but wasn't as if Riordan established an official timeline of events. I couldn't really sleep, so I just stared at Luke and Thalia night. Luke was around fourteen, and had sandy blonde hair. He didn't have a weapon, only a golf club and a celestial bronze dagger, which was a weapon, but it wouldn't be his much sooner, so I stayed away from it. God knows what'll happen if I ever get ahold of that dagger.

' _The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.'_ I recited in my head. I shook my head, clearing it of any thoughts about the future. I didn't want to change it, at least not drastically. Me trying to save the few lives I care about can result in losing so much more. I didn't want that. I didn't want this world to suffer from the misfortunes of the mythological.

A cold, familiar bitterness rose up within me, and I had to stomp it down. I kept getting these feelings a lot lately, which scared me, because I had no idea where they kept coming from. I didn't even think it was possible to feel so much negativity all at once, and the worst part was that I felt that I should know. This was actually one of the reasons I didn't like to sleep that much. Too many bad things happen when I shut my eyes. Arachne's children, along with these strange feelings rising up and manifesting themselves in weird dreams. More like nightmares. I didn't even think my subconscious mind could imagine things so cruel and real.

' _I feel like there's so much more at play here.'_ I fiddled with my necklace, looking at the broken infinity symbol engraved into the metal. ' _Who are you the faithless? And most importantly, what do they want with me?'_ Questions for later.

Without even looking, I viciously stomped on the small party of spiders, who were all too close to Annabeth for my liking.

* * *

A few hours later, the sun rose. As did the daughter of Zeus.

"Oh, sweet Canada…." Thalia muttered, cradling her head. I watched with mild amusement as she let out a string of curses at god knows who or what, all the while I watched her recover. I wonder how she'd react once she realizes me and Annabeth were the ones to set up the traps that caught her Luke, effectively knocking them out.

"Hi." I said. The reaction was instant. Immediately, did Thalia spin around in a fighting stance, tapping her bracelet, giving me the full force of the mighty shield, Aegis. I flinched from the sight of the shield. I mean, the Medusa head engraved into the shield was pretty damn realistic, but that wasn't what scared me. The thing must've been infused with some powerful magic.

"Oh! OH! Nonono, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry little boy!" I didn't open my eyes, but I could tell Thalia looked pretty guilty from releasing the mighty Aegis on a seven year old boy.

"You can open your eyes now." hesitantly, I did, to see Thalia knelt in front of me. "I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you." I didn't like the way she was talking to me. I am _not_ a child.

"I wasn't. Your shield's magic made me shut my eyes." wow, that sounded childish. Thalia looked at me funny.

"That's called flinching."

"No it's not."

"It means you were scared."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"I don't feel like having this conversation anymore." I ended it there. Yeah, you're winning an argument with me.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You have a bit of an attitude, don't ya?"

"Says the one wearing all black, Ms. Rebel." Thalia sputtered, and I hid a grin. I tilted my head. "Are you goth?"

"No, I'm punk. Goth and punk are two totally different things." she tried to explain. I raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Well, we aren't so….dark. I mean, mentally. And we're much more expressive in how we feel." Thalia said. I frowned.

"That doesn't sound very different at all." I said. Thalia's eye twitched. "It is, kid."

" _Sure_." I said with a shrug, but there was hinted sarcasm there. Thalia sighed. "You're a bit of a…." Thalia tried to think of a word, but I think it was just because I looked seven.

"Smartass?" I offered. Thalia look affronted. "Where did you learn that word?"

I shrugged. "Movies, shows, internet, people….speaking of which, do you what 'fucking bitch' means?" it was very hard not to grin at Thalia's shocked face. She scowled, looking down at me.

"It doesn't matter. And don't _ever_ use that language ever again, understood?" Thalia wasn't asking, she was demanding. God damn tsunderes.

"Fine." I muttered. She plopped down on the ground next to me, and asked, "Say, what's your name kid?"

"Athan." I answered.

"I'm Thalia. What're you and your friend," she gestured towards Annabeth, "doing all the way out here, in a dirty old factory?"

I shrugged. "My sister wanted to run away from home, I followed her so that she wouldn't be alone." Thalia looked surprised. "You didn't want to leave?"

"It doesn't matter, as long as Annabeth is okay. It's not like things were okay back home anyway." understatement of the century. Daily arguments between my stepmother and mother, and my father's lack of attention made it hard for us to live there. The tension between my family was just so suffocating. I'm glad I left with Annabeth. Hopefully in a few years, we can resolve this shit and let be over with.

Thalia's gaze turned soft. "That was….brave, Athan. A very responsible thing you did right there." she turned away, "I had a brother once, you know. He'd probably be around your age if he was still alive. My mom gave him away though to please my stepmom." the words seemed forced, not as if she was faking it, but rather as if it was hard to tell the story.

"Is that why you ran away?" I asked. Thalia nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't be with her anymore, not after what she did."

"I can be your brother." I said, without thinking. Thalia looked surprised too. "What?"

"I can be your brother. Annabeth can be our sister, and whatever his name is can be the cousin."

Thalia laughed. "That's Luke, and why is he the cousin?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, he just looks like a cousin." that wasn't a lie. Luke did vaguely remind me of Magnus, whom we lost contact with nearly two years ago. We've never spoken to his family since then.

' _I should go look for Magnus.'_ I mentally noted.

"Fine, from now on, we're one big happy family. How do you like the sound of that?" Thalia asked. We stood up as my sister and Luke began to wake. I chuckled.

"As long as we're together." I said. Thalia grinned.

"Always."

When Luke and Annabeth woke, we all introduced each other. And not a moment later, did the four of us set out, Annabeth happily skipping in front of us with her trusty new dagger in hand.

' _The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.'_ an annoying voice reminded me. I stomped it out. To hell with fate. We will be happy. And I don't care what I have to do any order to maintain that happiness.

* * *

 **I know, lame ending, but if I didn't get this out today, I never would have. Just….review, please. I really do need to hear your thoughts.**


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